Billionaire Heir?

The sun had begun to open up it's bares to the looming world below and the streets of Grandale was begining to answer to nature's favorite call - morning.

The cockcrow were a constant heralding of another busy day. This meant that the world would soon gleam and flood with pedestrians as they went about their daily tasks in business and agriculture basically as was the majority work in Grandale.

There would soon be colorful attires going about the streets in discordant yet shockingly impressive designs and patterns.

These recurring moments, as wonderful as they should always be to ordinary people; warming and engaging, were instead always exhausting for Joan on the outset of the day.

But it was not always like this for her. She was, in the time past, cheerful as a kid most especially at the reassuring moments of sunrise in her dear country of Pelubia.

She would jump about in a vast room big enough to be their entire house and Mr Cleopas's joined together.

She still faintly remembers jumping about in an expensive flower adorned night gown while deliberately letting the butler to effortlessly chase her about while she contently enjoys him wearing a face of discomfort i tiredness and exhaustion.

Abel, a name she remembers to be answerable by the butler in her memories would always beg her to stop until he could no longer mutter a word anymore but to follow her grudgingly about and wish he had never been employed to do her bidding in that way.

Joan has always had a great deal of believe in her memories which unfortunately, no one seemed to believe or give a listening ear to for even a second. To the disbelief of people regarding those stories of hers, she cared not. Even for a single moment.

She had once in the time past started by asking her mother Valentina if she was once rich or if they had been a very wealthy family in the past before they eventually lost their wealth to fate or some financial crippling event.

The begining was never clear nor was the end but the parts that were as clear as the roof of her room every morning she wakes up was were the fact that she had once had an enjoyable life, one full of the things that naturally made one happy. A dream life. Or was it literally only that?

Joan's ruminant thoughts of her so-said fantastic life were interrupted as was the case every morning in their household by her mother's roar from downstairs in the present moment.

Their house was a bit of a local compound found on the outskirts of Grandale county.

Her hometown, Grandale , was known as she has often heard over the radio to be home to the country's den of suspected rebel terrorists who had terrorized the entire country of Pelubia in the past. They started as a rebel group against the bad post colonial government under the leadership of Doctor Vasquez Antonio.

The Pelubians had in the outset of the rebellious campaign supported the Mannetii Militia but when group lost coordination and went past their mark, the Pelubians dreaded them.

The government had, in the past, tried their best to apprehend the suspected Mannetii group of armed robberies,and assassination attempts. They had in the past been a raging burning fire, a name and news that ravaged the peace of the middle and first class citizens of Pelubia until the whole band disbanded and vanished into thin air.

"Joannna!", her mother's voice ranted the whole compound once again. She pretended not to hear the second time once again.

"I'll get up there and feed you to the hyenas if you do not, in the few seconds, fetch yourself out of bed and immediately head to the pen and see to it that the cattle are in good shape enough for us to milk them in this particular moment!"

She still did not attempt to answer her mother because she knew her mother was always full of blabbing and empty threats which if we're to be truly enacted to reality would mean the end of all life on earth.

To look at these more practically , one; they never had hyenas and she had never raised her hand against the little girl as far as she could actually remember.

Joan was therefore at ease thinking that her mother would only blabber and threaten until suddenly, as one would stumble upon a sharply pointed piece of rock, a thought slapped across her mind like a big on the windshield. It was a long time past when she actually remember that particular event but this time around, the thought made her widen her eyelids and gulp down a bunch of saliva in a strain to regain her composure.

It was one fateful time of misfortune when she had fired back at the Valentina as though she was talking to a girl her age or even younger.

" You shut up too for once and let us see if that does not hurt you once like it does me all the time you shut me up because I am a little girl," she had told the mother, in a very derogatory and disrespectful tone. That was at a time when her mother did not quite really appreciate her around a bit.

The look she saw in her mother's eyes were nothing like she had ever seen in her life. The woman stood up, walked to the fence and and tore a long piece of zinc and began to make her way towards Joan. Joan stood there in sher disbelief.

What was about to happen was her very own mother trying to punish her for the first time ever.

She had never thought in her entire life that this woman she knew to be her loving mother would ever even attempt to hurt or inflict pain beyond mere emotional insensitivity as she always did towards Joan.

For the first time in Joan's life, she felt a cold surge of fear.

That was no ordinary kind of fear, it was more like a dread of some absolute sort.

She felt helpless and naive immediately. The worst thing then was the fact that all these bands of negative emotions were borne of an assault by her very own mother, a woman whom she believed would always be there to protect her, her salvor, her shield and protector.

She looked about and saw her father, Mr Gonzalez, sitting in his favorite armchair and mending his perfectly normal fishing nets. He had not even looked up a second at the two ladies who were having an episode never before heard of or experienced between the mother and child.

What surprised Joan was how he paid no slight imp of attention and just sat there mending his nets.

Out of fear, Joan saw her life pass swiftly right in front of her. One could even say that she died a million times in that particular moment.

That day was not to be repeated, all through Joan's life. She wished never to see her mother in that phase again. It was absolute terror for Joan, her mother looked emotionless and just kept coming towards her as though what she was about to do would give her absolute joy.

Just before her mother would raise a hand and grapple Joan..., "thats far enough, my love", her father uttered in monotonous utterances.

He also said this without looking up a bit.

Upon the mention then, her mother paused , dropped the item I'm her hand and began to weep.

She ran up to her room and locked herself up for hours.

Joan's father, Mr Gonzalez walked after his wife, Valentina and kept on knocking at the door until she opened and he went inside to console her.

Joan was sure she heard her mother shout a few words out of anger, " I can't do this any longer! You are keeping me caged up in this life! I'l am fed up Mi amor! Let's end this and go to a fresh start where it is just peaceful, please!!. "

Just like that, without a word from the father, Joan heard her mother stop crying and just sob.

Later that day her mother called her up to the living room and apologized to her. She told her that she was in a very bad mood after a rough day in the fish market.

She also told Joan the story of the fight between her and a customer who insulted the reputation of her husband, Mr Gonzalez, saying he was fond of bringing rotten fish to the market. To Joan, that was a valid excuse enough for anyone to freakout, unleash hell and reek havoc upon mortals when pissed and pushed to their limits.

Joan knew her mother was never the type to freakout but that day ought not repeat itself. She would never try her mother's patience. Even for a bag of money.

She still laid upon her bed, booting like an old computer before the past flashed right through her memory in detailed texture as though it had only just taken place right in front of her like a movie.

She remembered the day when her mother lost her temper and almost killed her. Upon that realization, Joan jumped out of her bed and rushed down the wooden stairs.

"Good morning, mama." The mother looked up at her and shook her head in dissatisfaction but still did not answer, she only nodded at her to get on with the days task.

She did this by way of tilting her head towards the barn. After this, it always meant that her mother wasn't angry.

Joan grudgingly dragged her legs to carry her towards the barn. While at the entrance she could perceive the stench of faeces littered about by their three cows and 26 pigs they had.

It was always disgusting at first sight until one got into the barn for some moments. That was what always annoyed Joan about the morning periods, she always had to be the one to go after the dirt in the barn.

She could never say no or have an assistant do this for her. She just had to agree to that even though she disliked it the way she disliked sour milk producer by the same cows on occasions when they were such or had eaten bad grass.

She was now seventeen and she wondered if she had done this since the time she was one year old. It appeared funny how she would have pulled that off and she found herself laughing at herself by her own self.

It was always like that for her. She just walked into the barn and made sure to make the best use of her time there.

She often started off by greeting the animals as she was sure that they were listening before she proceeded to checking if they were okay.

She would always start off by asking the few chicken how they had before the pigs because the pigs were always the more talkative.

She never asked the cows because she always thought they were shy or introverted beings and she respected that trait of them.

She fetched the cow dung while squinting her eyes and closing her nose with a face mask, then went on to pour some water over them from the tap that came all the way from their inner compound.

That was the part she always enjoyed because playing with water was very fun for Joan.

It was the part of her daily routine that always made the best begining of any day for Joan.

She went out towards the compound and discovered her father was busy riding the horse as he always did in the morning.

She waved at him and he waved back. She knew he only meant to greet back but she dropped her stainless bucket and headed into the pen. Her father loved the horse and so did she.

What was to follow would be defined by a time traveller as a beautiful catastrophe to a sad story but it was still going to come anyway.

That morning was absolutely running smoothly. Nothing was out of place.

Mr Gonzalez also seemed to be enjoying the moment more as his daughter was. The freedom they both enjoyed on the horse was more than enough to make one walk a mile on thin ice.

It was always moments like this one that Joan would find her playful and serious imaginative sense take the absolute control of her mind. This was no different but but she still could not think of anything otherwise than the beautiful skin of the horse as well as its vibrant nature of activity and strength.

Joan found herself sitting in-between his legs atop the horse in no time and they were both laughing and having a wonderful moment for themselves.

Gonzalez loved very few things unconditionally in his life but Valentina and Joan were his favorite favorite-two. He would move the world to make them happy and that did not stop at just being a caring husband and a most loving father, but it also seemed that he enjoyed making them happy at any slightest chance he got to do so.

Before he ventured into fishing, following his friend Cleopas' advice, he would only stand there and watch them play all day as though nothing mattered to him like their happiness. He seemed to derive absolute joy from seeing his family smile and living freely and happily in nature's assuring bosom of time and space.

That was at a time when he had decided to change his identity for his family's sake and therefore assumed an entirely different one. He had come with so much to have a noble life but that would still sell them off as affluent and so their name might travel to places they did not wish to be known at. He became a fisherman, made some local friends due to his friendly nature and compassion for the human being and eventually climbed through the ranks of the local fishermen association of Grandale but on a different identity and never when for meetings outside of Grandale but his assistants.

Joan was begining to let herself go by freely waving her hands in the wind up and down in a semicircular motion as the horse continued to race about and made no time to stop at its lightning speed when suddenly, she heard a peculiar voice.

"This girl!". It was her mother, Valentina.

She knew she was supposed to go and report to her mother that she had done her part in the barn and that it was her mother's turn to come do the rest but, as usual, she does not let an opportunity to mount the horse like that pass her by without a sweet tour atop the horses back.

"You must start shunning the activities of men or one day you will wake up with loins hanging in-between your feeble legs and only then will you learn to focus on womanly tasks" said her mother jokingly and her father joined in the laughing.

Joan did not find that joke funny at all or the fact that her father would find it funny.

She always knew that her mother had an exaggerative sexual sense of humor which seldom manifests but which also always pissed her off but this one was way off the line. Her parents held a strang

She only dropped her hands and frowned.

"C'mon MI armor, we were just having a great daddy and daughter moment with her you know. There's nothing wrong with that. Even you used to like it" he said while patting Joan on the shoulder.

"Well, she is wasting time learning how to be a woman from a man, ha!" Said Valentina as she picked up the bucket and hurriedly headed into the open barn.

While inside, Joan could hear her mother cursing at the top of her voice," where did all this water come from? "

There was silence and Joan joined her father in laughing." I thought the plan was to wash the pigs only not to reek a flood upon the whole barn? " asked Valentina rhetorically.

Joan and her father laughed the more and she could hear her mother laughing too.

"You will not kill me this one. You're indeed a lot to handle. Hahaha", Valentina added.

The duo had had enough of the horseback and had begun to be bored of the pleasures that should always seem unending.

Joan had found absolute happy moments like this with her father the best remedy before any day sprang open for school.

Yes it was time for Joan to head out to school. She knew too absolutely well to go get ready before Valentina came calling once again.

So Joan headed to her room and changed , got ready for the bathroom while her warm water was already set by her mother. She headed straight to the pot and get her herself a bucketful and dangled her way to the bathroom where she would always sing her favorite songs while bathing and having the best of the moment.

At moments like that where she sang her whole lungs out, nothing more than what Abel the butler would say always rang in her minds.

"Stop singing you.", he would say. "Don't you know that there are spirits capable of stealing people's voices while they sing and bath?" He would add.

And just like that, she would find herself shutting up in an attempt to preserve her voice from being stolen by the mighty magical invisible spiritual being of the bathroom.

One of such memories that she remembers vividly is one where Abel handed her some towels while the other female maids ensured that her other clothing's were handy. The next minute, of course, she would throw herself in the dirt of the gardens and dirty herself to her satisfaction.

What was more satisfying was just how the maids would frown at her but be powerless to correct her the traditional way.

Was this still an illusion or was it some fragments of her past? She could always only wonder.

Joan had prepared for school when someone came into the house and requested to see her father immediately.

Her mother did not ask "why" as she often did when strangers came knocking.

It seemed, to Joan, as though she knew this strange man from somewhere but that was not Joan's concern at the moment.

Joan still went on her own to the kitchen and fetched herself some chips and spaghetti.

After a good meal, Joan asked her mother to accompany her to school.

Valentina had to ask her husband who was in a serious meeting with the stranger if allowing their daughter to go to school in such a situation was the best thing to do and her husband nodded and told her not to worry. He told her that the issue was based on an agreement and he was going to take care of it. He also advised Valentina to accompany the young girl to school just in the case of any contingencies.

On their way, a man called Valentina by a name Joan had never heard her mother answer before.

He ordered them not to do anything stupid.

The mother held her ground and obeyed.

" What was going on?

What had Valentina done to these men?

Was Valentina even her name?

Was Joan safe? "

These were some of the question that freely ran through Joan's troubled mind as they awaited further orders from the men who seemed to be appearing from anywhere.

Joan and her mother were taken into a corner, blindfolded and guided into a vehicle that came afterwards and taken deep into the forest and where they found a building and put them the women in.

Joan could not particularly make sense of what was happening anymore. It was no longer funny or even conventional. Sunset was already making its way beyond the valley and it felt as hot as the afternoon had been because Joan's heart was beating faster than it had ever done in her entire life.

Those men whom Joan knew not were still holding the two of them captive, at least they were not too harsh on her. They treated her differently and ensured she had a good meal. But her mother, Valentina, they didn't care a bit about.

Valentina on the other hand was unfazed, she did not plead or ask for an explanation. This only made Joan the more curious.

"Mom, what's going on?" She asked.

"Fear not my cherry papaya," Valentina said in a carefree but yet comforting manner.

"These men simply kidnapped us for ransom, " she added.

"But why? What have we done to them?" Joan asked.

"My dear, do not be afraid. Be the strong girl I raised you to be. Your father has everything under control. He will surely come and get us out of here alright?"

"Ok mommy."

The duo sat there in the cell, looking around and checking to see if Mr Gonzalez would appear at any moment.

The anticipation between the women and kidnappers hung in the air, but as time went by, Mr Gonzalez never showed up. Joan's hopes of being rescued grew and then fell again.

Then Valentina started thinking and everything began to make a little sense. She began to put the pieces together, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

Valentina realized that her husband must have been doing everything he could to come and get them, but at that point in time, it seemed like there was more to his coming than she knew or realized.

The kidnappers were not known by many people, except those in their line of work. They were a notorious gang known as legendary Mannetii Militia. They were a clan and rather an offshoot the Mannetii Revolution who had decided to break out and form their own alliance, and they made their living in very shady and immoral ways.

They began by stealing and snatching things from people, and gradually, this developed into a pattern of organized crimes, and soon, they could no longer agree to survive on petty robberies and so, went into burglary and eventually into kidnapping for ransom.

They became structured and well coordinated. They knew everyone.

Valentina realized that the militia had learned their secrets despite their years of hiding. She knew they had done their best to keep their secrets hidden, but it was not enough.

This militia was, of course, cunning and deceptive. Their methods were devious and inscrutable. They were strong, innovative and resourceful, willing to sacrifice anything to achieve their ends. The biggest question now was whether Valentina's husband was truly coming to help them. She was certain he knew all about the situation, but she could not be sure of his intentions.

Joan on the other hand, had stopped thinking about her father and instead focused on finding solutions.

She had wondered if perhaps they could escape, even though they had no weapons. She knew they had to outsmart the men, who were clearly no longer paying attention to them. Her perseverance and determination were the catalyst to her thoughts. Despite the bleak situation, she was still refusing to give up.

Perhaps she had seen movies or TV shows about people who escaped from captivity, or read about similar stories in the news. These experiences inspired her with the hope and courage to think that she, and her mom, could be able to do anything.

Her resourcefulness was her asset – she is never willing to sit back and accept her fate, but was always actively thinking of ways to improve her situation.

Those men did not seem to care a bit about the women anymore. They were more concerned about something outside the house rather than inside.

Joan noticed this change in their demeanour and wondered what could have caused it. She watched them carefully, trying to discern any clues that might help her understand the situation. Her mind began racing with possibilities.

Could it be that her father was on his way to rescue them?

If not, why were the men suddenly so alert and on edge?

Valentina had noticed the men's behaviour too. To her, it felt as if something big was about to happen.

She knew that the men were about to face something significant, but she did not know what it was or will be; She knew her husband, he is a man of many surprises. So they waited and it came.

From little seconds came minutes which grew and sprouted into hours and eventually, half the day had gone. Mr Gonzalez was still nowhere around.

The only things that held his presence upon the room were the mention of the certainty of his appearance. His inability to appear on time had since, casted a heavy blanket of doubt upon all those expectant of his arrival but never ever were either his family nor the gang that kidnapped the family of the great Gonzalez conceded to the obvious fact that he might in fact probably not show up because he was never the type to miss out on appointments of any least value to him. He was punctual since his begining.

Valentina and Joan were still in captivity. The former was not at all scared to die or face any danger at all because she had seen worst her days of youthful activity when she rode toe to toe with her husband and his comrades as well as hers on a grand quest of Pelubia's sociopolitical revolutionary transformation.

This, they did with all of their time and heart. They committed a great deal of their lives and peace to the cause that it even became a vocation that they were bent on seeing to fruition on their lives.

They had had enough and were in either case; successful or not, still without a life and so devoted their all to the cause.

It was from that experience that she, Valentina, could swear that death or danger no longer scared her because she had stared death in the face multiple times and won against it because of her fearlessness.

Her only concern was her daughter Joan. She was still young and had not seen a quarter of what her life was laid out to be or was she even , for a bit, ready to transit and leave this busy life behind.

To Valentina, she could die any moment for all's sake and still would have had a successful life with milestones attained and the glory brought home to celebration, but not her daughter. She kept quiet and only thought about how she would rescue the both of them from those heartless men who would not frit to kill even a harmless child in cold blood. She intended to achieving that brand fit of escape without incurring any pain or discomfort upon her little daughter Joan.

She was all that mattered at that moment. Her only problem at that peculiar moment was the monotonous recurrence of realization that in all she had conjured in her mind as a solution, in all cases, her daughter was still likely going to get hurt or worst.

There was a high probability of harm in all instances.

So, Valentina decided to let things just go according to their natural plot, perhaps they might decide to never lay a hand on them after accepting their long awaited ransom.

She began to remember Mr Gonzalez the legend, of the days when they were in the band together. If only her mind and reality were aligned, these men would have by hours past had a better understanding of the people they were messing with. But they were to definitely soon find out. At least, they were anticipating it from the looks on their faces.

The men held a certain degree of alertness all the while because they knew that Mr Gonzalez the great was never one to bargain with. He had never done that in his whole life but once they had reached out to him regarding his daughter and wife's abduction, he respectfully asked them what they wanted for ransom.

"500 million pounds", they said. "Done",he responded.

" Where?", he asked once again.

" Drive it to the center of the Heiti Forest where two roads intersect. From thereon, follow the various paint markings on tree trunk down the old abandoned road until you come across the colonial junkyard. Bring no more than one person or your daughter has it", and by that, they cut the cal and went there way.

Now, the he tension in the air was intense and impossible to ignore.

The armed and stern looking men had come around once or twice to mention to Valentina that they were losing their patience and that they were no longer going to waste any more time.

They reminded her that the agreement with her husband was that if he had not appeared to them with the complete ransom as they had requested, they would deny him his family and go away with them.

They also threatened to cut a finger each from Valentina and her daughter. They would wrap it in an envelope and send it to Mr Gonzalez her husband on a daily basis until both they and him had nothing else to lose and eventually go their separate ways.

Joan also noticed another recurring phenomenon which the men will occasionally come together to have a head to head conversation. They were whispering things about her Mr Gonzalez.

As she paid keen attention to the men's whispers, it became clearer that they knew who her father was. Even better,they seemed to e expecting some surprise from him and so we're at full alert in the case of any shocking event from 'the legend' as they continually referred to him.

There was also a whole deal of fear about them. Yes, they were furious and scary to her ,bit they were also afraid of what her father might do. They also mentioned, in an attempt to console their fears that the man has now become a woman who hides among the weak and buries his fire in shame.

One of them even mentioned that Mr Gonzalez was also rumored to now be a local fisherman. They laughed at how low he had stooped and only then did there flow some sense of relief among majority of the men.

Joan became more curious than ever. She began to think of ways to break the silence and extract information from them. "After all," she thought aloud, "they've been treating me nicely, what could go wrong?"

Maybe she could appeal to their sympathy. She beckoned her brain for ideas.

There was just so much going on and she knew deep within her that she was so much in the dark.

"Excuse me, sir," Joan pleaded. "I heard you mention my father's name. Please don't hurt him. I beg you, " she begged in a naive manner.

The man squat down and replied,

"Don't worry, young lady. We have no intention of harming your father. He's a changed man now – he won't try anything foolish or..... heroic, "he said while patting Joan on the left shoulder and smiling sheepishly.

"Do you know my father from before?"

But before he could answer her, Valentina interrupted,

"Joan, you must not ask any more questions. These men are dangerous, and we must do as they say. Please, don't provoke them." Said Valentina in a tone that was reminiscent of fear and disgust altogether.

" They have done more harm to this family already." she added.

Joan felt a flash of anger in her mind because he mother had just severed her chances of getting through to the men and extracting valuable information. She felt like telling her mother to just keep quiet and allow her to do her thing because it seemed like the mother did not quite fathom the game she was playing at but there was no way if communicating that to her mother without blowing the deal up on their faces and so she only bit her tongue and buried the dig.

It was clear that her mother was trying to protect her.

"So now you know what can or cannot provoke us eh Joan? ..... Hahaha Joan forget your mother. Feel free to ask us anything. I will be happy to tell you who your father really is. I know they must have hid the truth from you, they did not quite clearly tell you about their past or yours huhn?."

Valentina knew her daughter should not know the truth because she was not yet ready for it, so she tried all she could to keep her away from hearing it.

"Leave my daughter alone, she does not want to hear whatever cooked up story you have. What do you want from us? Who even are you and where are you from?", she asked in a threatening tone tay challenged the men.

The men laughed.

"This woman," One said from the background.

"you're funny. Asking me who I am and where I am from. What's next, my parents name?"

They all bursted into another loud round of laughter. But the way they were laughing, they were making jest of her and clearly, it showed that they knew everything that Valentina feared they did.

She began to wonder who might have sold them out. Was it one of her friends from back then? But she had cut them all off and would trust all of her sister comrades with her life.

The men continued to make jest of her.

"Yeah, think woman, You and your husband thought you were smart.", said the guy who seemed from the outset of the operation to be having the leadership role over all the others although appearing to be the youngest, obviously.

Suddenly, amidst the men's ridiculing laughter, Valentina began to speak in a language that was unknown only to them. The words flowed effortlessly from her lips, carrying with them a sense of ancient wisdom. Though they initially dismissed her words as senseless rambling, they soon recognized the ancient tongue for what it was – a language steeped in history and tradition.

It began to make sense to them and they responded in a pidginized form of tongue.

Initially, Joan was in the dark, she was even surprised that her mom could speak this kind of language and she never knew, but when the men started responding in pidgin, she was able to pick up a few things.

The gist began to make sense. They mentioned something about a big hijack from some 14 to 15 years ago.

Their tone shifted abruptly as they spoke of her husband, acknowledging his prowess in the realm of clandestine activities. Yet, their admiration soon turned to bitterness as they lamented his perceived downfall, attributing it to his abandonment of their shared cause which was ab absolute betrayal to their father.

It then became clear to Valentina that these were not mere strangers but former allies, disillusioned by her husband's apparent abandonment or the so-called surrender.

"If only we had known that you and your husband would fall so far, giving up the fight and sinking back into the gutters, we would never have revered him. We all should have been swimming in the big ocean."

Their words were scathing, and Valentina felt a hot flush of shame.

She had once been proud of her husband, but nevertheless, she understood why they had to give it all up.

They continued.

"We once revered him, but we were never fools. We're here for business, not trouble. Your husband is aware of our demands, and we expect him to deliver. If he tries to relive the glory days of his past, we'll show him that our generation is better at everything."

His smug confidence made Valentina's stomach turn. She had never hated anyone so much in her life. How could they think so little of her husband? Well, they think her husband's retirement from his old ways meant he does not have it in him anymore.

That mistake will cost them, thought Valentina.

The conversation sounded serious but Joan was still in the dark.

"Mom what are they talking about? I can't seem to make sense of anything. Please explain to me what's going on."

"Oh young lady, indeed she should help explain. Your mother here knows too much. Perhaps you have been kept in the dark for so long but we do not live in the dark anymore. Good things are happening and today very wonderful things shall happen. I am sure that your father," he paused and thought then apologized, " sorry, your so-called father, will not waste any time. He will come here and he will claim you. But if he chooses to do things his way, blood will surely spill....", he paused and apologized for mentioning the word blood.

"But if youre lucky and eventually, you get home alive, ask them to explain every relevant bit of your entire family history." He concluded.

Joan was still confused. She thought her little mind would be able to decipher and bring out meaning out of what all these men had mentioned, but actually the more she thought about it, even though she had wanted to jump into interpretation, the more it made her find herself in an ocean of confusion.

Joan looked her mother's face and fearlessness was written all over it. She was hoping to hear something from her but her mom couldn't take it anymore, she stood up, looked the men in their eyes and asked them.

"Perhaps you've forgotten who I am and my story, perhaps you've forgotten my name. But I do advise you to not ever bring up that story in front of my daughter again or else, you will make me relive it once I get the chance."

The men laughed, "Oh you old woman of 30 or 40 is it ?! Your days of glory are over. It's our time now, the new generation. This militia is not even our father's or our mother's anymore, it's ours!. That was why your display of ancient tongue didn't move us. Didn't you notice in the way we operate, how peculiar our strategy of kidnap was? It's better than our parent's. And of course, the weapons we hold, the markings on our skin and the language we speak. We will terrorize the whole world if we wish to and we will do it better and more efficiently. You have nothing on us."

Valentina giggled, kept quiet and sat down. At least her diversion had worked, now her daughter would not get to hear the bitter information they had protected for so long.

The only issue then, was when eventually her husband would show up.

Joan also missed her father so much.

What they did not know was that the situation was actually in Mr Gonzalez's court. He was just outside the building and he had brought with him reckoning.